Monthly Archives: December 2010

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It’s a new year with a new chance to make a new beginning… our chance to make a real difference!

If you’ve been “putting off your greening”, I’m going to give you theA to Z list to get the ball rolling. (I think I’ve put together quite the extraordinary list, if I do say so myself! Be sure to click on the orangelinks to learn more!)

Hold onto your “green” party hats, and let’s go!…

A – Appliances, Animals – Buy energy efficient appliances when you need to make a replacement. If you’re looking for a ‘cause’ that needs your assistance, donate to help save an endangered species.B – Bamboo, Biodegradable, Baking Soda – Buy sustainable bamboo products (everything from towels to furniture). Think biodegradable for all product choices (detergents, bath products, cleaners, toilet paper, paper towels, etc.). Use eco-friendly baking soda for everything from health & beauty to cleaning your home.C – CFLs, Cleaners, Compost, CSAs– Replace your lights with compact fluorescents. Skip the chemicals in traditional, commercial cleaners and opt for eco-friendly choices. Start composing food scraps and other biodegradable materials. Consider buying into a CSA for the freshest, organic produce.D – Donate, Disposable, Dry cleaning – Donate your usable but no longer needed clothing, books, toys, household items and furniture to organizations that support the less fortunate, so they can be reused. Eliminate anything intentionally disposable from your purchases. Look for an eco-friendly dry cleaner to avoid toxic chemicals.E – Energy, Environment – Turn off electronics, computers, lights and all household appliances that aren’t in use. Consider the effect on the environment in everything you do.F – Food – Make healthy choices of organic and natural foods instead of those filled with preservatives, artificial ingredients and chemicals. Help your kids learn to make great choices too!G – Global warming, Glass, Greywater – Accept that global warming is real and we’re the only creature on the planet that can do something about it. Recycle all glass (it can be recycled indefinitely!). Learn all the ways to put your greywater to work.H – Heating, Home – Turn down the thermostat. Excess energy equals an excess of pollution. Make your home safe and clean, and simultaneously non-toxic, by cutting out all chemicals.I – Ideas – Share what you know and learn with others. It can have a fabulous snowball effect! The ideas from our grandparents are excellent principals to follow as well.J – Journey – Give yourself credit for the things you are doing and accept that going green is truly a journey!K – Kids – Get your kids involved. When they learn to respect the environment early in life, that lesson will stay with them forever.L – Landfills, Local – Remember that everything you toss in the trash winds up in a landfill, polluting the soil and water. Buy local at every opportunity and, especially for produce, get the most out of your food.M – Mattresses, Meat, Milk – When you replace a mattress, consider organic. Traditional mattresses are filled with harsh and harmful chemicals. Choose organic meat and milk to avoid antibiotics, steroids and growth hormones.N – Newspapers – When you need to keeps something hot or cold in transport, newspaper is an amazing insulator. When you’re done, recycle them, always!O – Organics, Outdoors, Oceans – Buy as many organics as you can… simple as that. Getting outdoors will remind you of this beautiful world we are trying to preserve, and even if you can’t see an ocean from where you live, never forget how crucial they are. Remember that allowing them to be polluted (the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and the Gulf Disaster) must be prevented.P – Plastic, Paper, Palm oil – Avoid the excessive use of plastics or at least make sure the plastics are truly recyclable. Same goes for paper. Be conscious not to be wasteful and recycle every unneeded piece of paper that comes your way. Learn about palm oil and purchase only products that use the sustainable variety.Q – Quit procrastinating and take the next step!R – Recycle, Reusable Bags, Rain barrels – NOT recycling is inexcusable. Recyclables should never be thrown in the trash. Invest in reusable shopping bags and stop contributing to the ‘one trillion plastic bags used annually, worldwide’ statistic. Set-up at rain barrel to capture water for use around your yard.S – Schools, Shopping, “Shoes off“ – Get involved at your children’s schools and put together programs to help them embrace recycling and the environment. Realize that every purchase you make has a greener option… it’s up to you to know the difference and choose wisely. Adopt the “shoes off” rule and avoid tracking toxins and chemicals through your home.T – Trash, Trees, Travel – Make a conscious effort to reduce your weekly trash by not buying over-packaged products or buy only products in recyclable packaging. Don’t cut down healthy trees… they are more valuable than just their visual beauty (think air quality, soil preservation, wildlife habitat… the list goes on and on). Don’t leave your green principals at home when you travel, take them with you!U – Un-green, Upcycle – When you see a “wrong”, you can make it “right”. Speak up, help others and make a change that can make a difference. Before you throw anything away, consider if it has a secondary use and upcycle.V – Vinegar, Volunteer – The uses for distilled white vinegar are endless. Buy some for cleaning, cosmetic uses, deodorizing, and pest and weed control. Volunteer your time for an environmental cause.W – Water, Water Bottles, Wildlife – Conserve water… contrary to belief, the supply is not endless. Buy a stainless steel, reusable water bottle to avoid BPA and stop contributing plastic bottles to landfills. Contribute to causes that protect the habitats of wildlife and consider what you are doing to their “home” in your every action.X – Xenagogue, Xeriscape– The definition of xenogogue is “guide”, so simply guide others and become a steward of both your home and the earth, and make informed choices. Xeriscape in your yard by planting only native trees, shrubbery and flowers to prevent the need for excessive watering.Y – You– (YOU knew that one was coming too, right?) but sincerely, the changes you make in your daily life are all up to you. Take what you know and put it to good use.Z – Zoos, Zero-Waste – Support zoos that dedicate themselves to conservation and education. Buy kits and containers that can be reused for lunchtime (or anytime) so that you don’t contribute to the approximate ‘67 pounds of annual trash created by a child’s lunch’.

There it is: A to Z (and I feel like I only scratched the surface!) But the main mission is to simply get started. Don’t wait for tomorrow, and don’t expect you have to do it all at once, but do admit that we can all make little changes that amount to one enormous difference!

Now that we’ve stopping scurrying around in preparation for the holidays, we’re all liking looking around and seeing plenty yet to be done in the wake of a hectic season.

The tree, the lights, the presents, the boxes, the bags and bows, the piles of Christmas cards!… WHAT to do now? Well, let me help…

Here is a very simple list of things you can do to curb the waste, make the most of the season and keep it green!:

The Christmas tree – if you had a live-cut Christmas tree, check out Earth911 to find a drop-off so it can be turned into mulch or composted (if your community doesn’t offer the service). If you have a wooded area near your house, give it back to nature for a wonderful winter habitat for animals. If your tree is artificial and you’ve considered a replacement, donate your old tree. Many organizations and needy families would love them for next year.

Packaging and boxes – everything from gift packaging to the shipping boxes the gifts arrived in… either recycle them (if they aren’t usable again) or save them (along with the reusable packing materials) for when you need to ship something. If you have more than you can handle, list and sell them through Box Cycle.

Gift bags, ribbons, bows and tissue – simply fold, flatten and/or store. They can all likely be used again (and again!).

Lights – if you have strands that have permanently gone out, take advantage of clearance sales and stock up on new LEDs for next year’s energy-efficient decorating. You can also check outHolidayLEDs.com… they’ll accept old incandescents and give you a 25% discount on a new LED purchase.

Clear it out! – make way for new gifts by cleaning out what is no longer needed and donate them to charity. Clothes, toys, books, household items… everything is useful for someone, or an entire family, in need!

Christmas cards – ever heard of St. Jude’s Ranch for Children? Well, they’d love to receive your Christmas cards! This non-profit organization cares for abused, abandoned and/or neglected children. They accept used greeting cards (including Christmas, birthday and even “Thank You” cards), the children remove the fronts and attach them to a recycled paper backing. They turn them into new greeting cards… and then sell them! Bundle them up and mail them to:

St. Jude’s Ranch for Children
Card Recycling Program
100 St. Jude’s Street
Boulder City, NV 89005

As you get your post-holiday life back in order there is some work to be done but, rest assured, there are plenty of wise, green choices that can be made as we bid the year farewell…

Another Christmas come and gone in a whirlwind here at the Mom Goes Green household! I hope your holiday was wonderful and filled with every blessing imaginable! (Now I’m getting back into the groove with post #381 and gearing up for the New Year!)

As always, we had amazing and magical fun! Santa delivered exactly what was requested so the kids are thrilled (and nothing will be sitting, unwanted, under the tree!).

As every box and package was UNpacked, they werebroken down and flattened and made their way into the recycling can… even the wrapping paper. The recycling can is FULL… and the garbage can?… hardly a thing added!

Tissue and bows were set aside and have made their way into storage for reuse next year too! All other family gifts were also given inbags recycled from last year so I didn’t need to purchase a single supply! Some family members even gave back the gift bags with a smile and a “Here… for next year!” Ahh, they know me well!

I’m also happy to report that at every gathering, our families used the REAL silverware, plates, bowls, glasses, cups and serveware… not a disposable in sight! Bravo, family… and thank you!

We’ll soon be weeding out old (but usable) clothing, toys, books and other household items to donate to charities that serve the less fortunate. I know we all tend to give before the holidays but remember, the need exists 365 days a year so it’s never too late, or too soon! Let the giving continue!

In the coming days I’ll give you more tips and tricks to wrap up the holidays and get you sent off into the New Year…

… But for now, I simply wish to say I hope your Christmas or holiday was as wonderful and magical as ours!

The Mom Goes Green family would like to wish everyone a very

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a wonderful New Year!

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. — Burton Hillis

This Christmas we want to wish you all of the things that bring you happiness. Enjoy memories of the past, live in the moment, and have hope for the future. May your New Year be filled with everything wonderful — health, happiness, laughter and especially love!

But then along comes another list that’s worthy of some sharing! It’s from The Huffington Post and may help you if you’re still really, really struggling for a last minute gift idea!Take a look!

I also realized that there is one VERY important organization that I didn’t mention loudly enough: Kiva!

Kiva is really quite extraordinary… through their gift certificate program you can “loan” your gifted money to a “working poor” recipient of your choosing. Once they are able to repay the loan, you are given back your donated money to grant to another needy recipient… and this wonderful cycle starts all over again!

We’ve personally supported many families. They’ve including a man in Tajikistan who desperately needed money to buy seeds for farming, to a gentleman in Palestine that needed funds to improve his organic chicken farm! It’s rewarding (and admittedly fun!) to go through the list of people, see who you would like to help and check on their progress as time goes on, and until their loan is repaid.

Consider giving a Kiva gift certificate to someone (or make a donation yourself) and just a small amount will allow them (or you!) to give again and again and again…

Isn’t that really much better than that lousy sweater you were considering?…

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About Mom Goes Green

I'm not perfect. My life is far from being as green as I would like it to be, but I’m trying…and I’m learning. I just want to leave this world knowing that I did all I could manage to do. This blog will be my journey…both the good and the bad, mistakes included. Click here to read more...